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Objective The volume and cortical thickness of gray matter in patients with multiple sclerosis (MS) and neuromyelitis optica (NMO) were compared and analyzed by voxel⁃based morphometry (VBM) and surface⁃based morphometry (SBM), and the differences in the structural changes of gray matter in the two diseases were discussed. Methods A total of 21 MS patients, 16 NMO patients and 19 healthy controls were scanned by routine MRI sequence. The data were processed and analyzed by VBM and SBM method based on the statistical parameter tool SPM12 of Matlab2014a platform and the small tool CAT12 under SPM12. Results Compared with the normal control group (NC), after Gaussian random field (GRF) correction, the gray matter volume in MS group was significantly reduced in left superior occipital, left cuneus, left calcarine, left precuneus, left postcentral, left central paracentral lobule, right cuneus, left middle frontal, left superior frontal and left superior medial frontal (P<0. 05). After family wise error (FWE) correction, the thickness of left paracentral, left superiorfrontal and left precuneus cortex in MS group was significantly reduced (P<0. 05). Compared with the NC group, after GRF correction, the gray matter volume in the left postcentral, left precentral, left inferior parietal, right precentral and right middle frontal in NMO group was significantly increased (P<0. 05). In NMO group, the volume of gray matter in left middle occipital, left superior occipital, left inferior temporal, right middle occipital, left superior frontal orbital, right middle cingulum, left anterior cingulum, right angular and left precuneus were significantly decreased (P<0. 05). Brain regions showed no significant differences in cortical thickness between NMO groups after FWE correction. Compared with the NMO group, after GRF correction, the gray matter volume in the right fusiform and right middle frontal in MS group was increased significantly(P<0. 05). In MS group, the gray matter volume of left thalamus, left pallidum, left precentral, left middle frontal, left middle temporal, right pallidum, left inferior parietal and right superior parietal were significantly decreased (P<0. 05). After FWE correction, the thickness of left inferiorparietal, left superiorparietal, left supramarginal, left paracentral, left superiorfrontal and left precuneus cortex in MS group decreased significantly (P<0. 05). Conclusion The atrophy of brain gray matter structure in MS patients mainly involves the left parietal region, while NMO patients are not sensitive to the change of brain gray matter structure. The significant difference in brain gray matter volume between MS patients and NMO patients is mainly located in the deep cerebral nucleus mass.
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Abstract Objectives The aim of this study was to examine the changes in gray matter in nasopharyngeal carcinoma patients with normal hearing (Group 1) and nasopharyngeal carcinoma patients with hearing loss (Group 2) after radiotherapy using voxel-based morphological analysis and to analyze the relationship with the radiation doses of the temporal lobe. Methods 21 patients in Group 1, 14 patients in Group 2, and 21 healthy volunteers were selected. All participants underwent an otologic examination and three-dimensional magnetization preparatory rapid acquisition gradient echo sequence scan. The correlation between the variation of whole brain gray matter volume and the doses of the temporal lobe was analyzed by Data Processing & Analysis for Brain Imaging software. Results Compared with the normal control group, the brain areas with reduced gray matter volume in nasopharyngeal carcinoma patients after radiotherapy were mainly in the left posterior cerebellar lobe (T = −8.797), left insular lobe (T = −7.96), and the right insular lobe (T = −6.632). Compared to Group 1, the brain areas of Group 2 patients with reduced gray matter volume were mainly in the left superior temporal gyrus (T = −2.366), left olfactory bulb (T = −2.52), left Rolandic operculum (T = −2.431), and right olfactory bulb (T = −3.100). Compared with Group 1, the brain areas of Group 2 patients with increased gray matter volume were mainly in the left calcarine sulcus (T = 3.425) and right calcarine sulcus (T = 3.169). There were no correlations between the changes of brain gray matter volume and the radiation doses of the temporal lobe in both Group 1 and Group 2. Conclusions The radiotherapy may cause the changes of brain areas associated with cognitive function in nasopharyngeal carcinoma in a long-term follow-up. At the same time, nasopharyngeal carcinoma patients with the radiation-induced hearing loss had abnormal gray matter volumes in the auditory center and other sensory centers. Our findings might provide new understanding into the pathogenesis of radiation-induced brain damage in normal-appearing brain tissue. Yet this exploratory study should be taken with caution.
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Objective To calculate the doses and their dose conversion coefficients for the personnel whose organs were under accidental exposure to three types of X-ray machines and two γ radiation sources, and to provide a simple method for rapid estimation of accidental doses. Methods The radiation source models of X-ray machines and two γ sources were established with the FLUKA simulation software and a Chinese reference voxel phantom was imported. The organ absorbed dose, dose conversion coefficient between organ absorbed dose and air Kerma, and conversion coefficient between organ absorbed dose and radiation source were calculated for a simulated scenario where the personnel were under antero-posterior exposure to radiation sources 1 meter away. Results For the lungs, heart, muscles, soft tissue, liver, skin, and brain, the conversion coefficient between organ absorbed dose and air Kerma was 0.30-1.19 (Gy/Gy). For X-ray machines, the conversion coefficient between organ absorbed dose and output for the six organs ranged from 6.12 × 10−3 to 2.90 × 10−2 Gy·m2/(mA·min). For γ radiation sources, the conversion coefficient between organ absorbed dose and activity for the six organs ranged from 1.12 × 10−8 to 7.01 × 10−8 Gy·m2/(GBq·s). Conclusion The conversion coefficient between organ absorbed dose and air Kerma and the conversion coefficient between organ absorbed dose and output or activity of a flaw detector can provide important dosimetric parameters for rapid assessment of similar radiation accidents.
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OBJECTIVE@#To investigate the changes in gray matter volume in depressive-like mice and explore the possible mechanism.@*METHODS@#Twenty-four 6-week-old C57 mice were randomized equally into control group and model group, and the mice in the model group were subjected to chronic unpredictable mild stimulation (CUMS) for 35 days. Magnetic resonance imaging was performed to examine structural changes of the grey matter volume in depressive-like mice. The expression of brain-derived neurotrophic factor (BDNF) in the grey matter of the mice was detected using Western blotting and immunofluorescence staining.@*RESULTS@#Compared with the control mice, the mice with CUMS showed significantly decreased central walking distance in the open field test (P < 0.05) and increased immobile time in forced swimming test (P < 0.05). Magnetic resonance imaging showed that the volume of the frontal cortex was significantly decreased in CUMS mice (P < 0.001, when the mass level was greater than or equal to 10 756, the FDRc was corrected with P=0.05). Western blotting showed that the expression of mature BDNF in the frontal cortex was significantly decreased in CUMS mice (P < 0.05), and its expression began to decrease after the exposure to CUMS as shown by immunofluorescence staining. The volume of different clusters obtained by voxel-based morphometry (VBM) analysis was correlated with the expression level of mature BDNF detected by Western blotting (P < 0.05).@*CONCLUSION@#The decrease of frontal cortex volume after CUMS is related with the reduction of mature BDNF expression in the frontal cortex.
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Animals , Mice , Blotting, Western , Brain-Derived Neurotrophic Factor , Cerebral Cortex , Depression/physiopathology , Frontal Lobe/pathologyABSTRACT
BackgroundCognitive impairment， a core clinical feature of schizophrenia， is considered to be associated with the aberrant functional connectivity in patients with schizophrenia， whereas previous studies on the characteristics of cognitive impairment in patients with chronic schizophrenia and its correlation with interhemispheric voxel-mirrored homotopic connectivity （VMHC） are somewhat inadequate. ObjectiveTo investigate the characteristics of cognitive impairment in patients with chronic schizophrenia who are clinically stable on their antipsychotic medication， and to explore its correlation with resting-state interhemispheric VMHC， so as to provide theoretical basis for the identification of neurobiological mechanism possibly responsible for cognitive impairment in chronic schizophrenia. MethodsA total of 15 patients with chronic schizophrenia who met the criteria of the International Classification of Diseases， tenth edition （ICD-10） and hospitalized in Suzhou Guangji Hospital from January 2021 to December 2022 were included. Another 15 healthy community-dwelling individuals were concurrently recruited. All participants were requested to complete the Positive and Negative Symptom Scale （PANSS）， Repeatable Battery for the Assessment of Neuropsychological Status （RBANS） and resting-state functional Magnetic Resonance Imaging （rs-fMRI） scanning to evaluate their mental symptoms， cognitive function and interhemispheric functional connectivity. The rs-fMRI data were analyzed with VMHC method. Then Pearson correlation analysis was performed to examine the correlation between VMHC values of regions of interest and scores of RBANS and PANSS within patient group. ResultsPatient group obtained lower scores than control group based on RBANS immediate memory， visuospatial/constructional， language， attention and total score， with statistically significant differences （t=-2.853， -2.107， -5.576， -7.108， -5.354， P<0.05 or 0.01）. The VMHC values of left superior occipital gyrus （t=-5.188， P<0.05） and right cuneus （t=-5.188， P<0.05） in patient group were lower than those in control group， with statistical difference. Correlation analysis denoted that the VMHC values of left superior occipital gyrus （r=0.612， P=0.015） and right cuneus （r=0.612， P=0.015） were positively correlated with visuospatial/constructional index score in RBANS. ConclusionThe resting-state VMHC is abnormal in left superior occipital gyrus and right cuneus of patients with chronic schizophrenia， and yields a correlation with the visuospatial/constructional performance of patients. ［Funded by Suzhou Science and Technology Development Plan Project （number， SKJYD2021131； SKJY2021143）］
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OBJECTIVE@#To investigate iron accumulation level over the whole brain and explore the possible neuromechanism of medication-overuse headache (MOH) using quantitative susceptibility mapping (QSM).@*METHODS@#Thirty-seven MOH patients and 27 normal control subjects were enrolled in the study for examinations with both a multiecho gradient echo magnetic resonance (MR) sequence and brain high resolution structural imaging. A voxel-based analysis was performed to detect the brain regions with altered iron deposition, and the quantitative susceptibility mapping values of the positive brain regions were extracted. Correlation analysis was performed between the susceptibility values and the clinical variables of the patients.@*RESULTS@#In patients with MOH, increased susceptibility values were found mainly in the bilateral substantia nigra (SN) (MNI coordinate: 8, -18, -14; -6, -16, -14) as compared with the normal control subjects (P < 0.001), but these alterations in iron deposition were not significantly correlated with the clinical variables of the patients (P > 0.05). The susceptibility value in the left SN had an area under curve (AUC) of 0.734, and at the cut-off value of 0.077, its diagnostic sensitivity was 72.97% and its specificity was 70.37% for distinguishing MOH from normal controls; The susceptibility value in the right SN had an AUC of 0.699 with a diagnostic sensitivity of 72.97% and a specificity of 62.96% at the cut-off value of 0.084.@*CONCLUSION@#Increased iron deposition occurs in the bilateral SN of MOH patients, which provides a new insight into the mechanism of mesocorticolimbic dopamine system dysfunction in MOH. QSM technique can be used as a non-invasive means for quantitative analysis of brain iron deposition in migraine neuroimaging.
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Humans , Brain , Substantia Nigra , Magnetic Resonance Imaging/methods , Headache Disorders, Secondary , Headache , Iron , Brain Mapping/methodsABSTRACT
Non-invasive brain stimulation (NIBS) probing the dorsolateral prefrontal cortex (DLPFC) has been shown to have little effect on working memory. The variability of NIBS responses might be explained by inter-subject brain anatomical variability. We investigated whether baseline cortical brain thickness of regions of interest was associated with working memory performance after NIBS by performing a secondary analysis of previously published research. Structural magnetic resonance imaging data were analyzed from healthy subjects who received transcranial direct current stimulation (tDCS), intermittent theta-burst stimulation (iTBS), and placebo. Twenty-two participants were randomly assigned to receive all the interventions in a random order. The working memory task was conducted after the end of each NIBS session. Regions of interest were the bilateral DLPFC, medial prefrontal cortex, and posterior cingulate cortex. Overall, 66 NIBS sessions were performed. Findings revealed a negative significant association between cortical thickness of the bilateral dorsolateral prefrontal cortex and reaction time for both tDCS (left: P=0.045, right: P=0.037) and iTBS (left: P=0.007, right: P=0.007) compared to placebo. A significant positive association was found for iTBS and posterior cingulate cortex (P=0.03). No association was found for accuracy. Our findings provide the first evidence that individual cortical thickness of healthy subjects might be associated with working memory performance following different NIBS interventions. Therefore, cortical thickness could explain - to some extent - the heterogeneous effects of NIBS probing the DLPFC.
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Objective:To analyze the changes of gray matter volume and resting-state functional connectivity in children with attention deficit hyperactivity disorder (ADHD) comorbid with oppositional defiant disorder (ODD).Methods:A total of 22 ADHD comorbid with ODD children (ADHD-ODD group, n=22) were selected from a public-assess resting-state fMRI ADHD cohort, namely, ADHD-200.Meanwhile, 22 age- and sex- matched ADHD children without ODD (ADHD group, n=22) and 22 healthy children(control group, n=22) were also included.T1-weighted MRI and resting-state fMRI scans were performed on all of the participants.The voxel-based morphometric (VBM) method was used to compare the volume of gray matter in three groups.The gray matter with aberrant volume was set as the region of interest(ROI) for mapping the functional connectivity of the whole brain.For comparison of gray matter volumes, one-way ANOVA and two-sample t-test analysis were applied, while two-sample t-test analysis was used for comparison of functional connectivity. Results:Compared with the control group, ADHD-ODD group showed decreased gray matter volume in the left cerebellum anterior lobe (MNI coordinate: x, y, z=-19.5, -42, -18) and right cerebellum anterior lobe (MNI coordinate: x, y, z=19.5, -39, -21). The left cerebellum anterior lobe showed increased functional connectivity with left superior frontal gyrus, left middle frontal gyrus (MNI coordinate: x, y, z=-24, 19, 43), right superior frontal gyrus, right middle frontal gyrus (MNI coordinate: x, y, z=30, 9, 45) and bilateral precuneus, posterior cingulate gyrus(MNI coordinate: x, y, z=-6, -35, 24). Compared with the ADHD group, ADHD-ODD group showed decreased gray matter volume in the right cerebellum anterior lobe (MNI coordinate: x, y, z=19.5, -37.5, -22.5). The right cerebellum anterior lobe showed increased functional connectivity with bilateral superior frontal gyrus, bilateral middle frontal gyrus, bilateral medial frontal gyrus, anterior cingulate gyrus and posterior cingulate gyrus(MNI coordinate: x, y, z=18, -12, 42), bilateral cuneus, bilateral lingual gyrus(MNI coordinate: x, y, z=9, -87, 27).Conclusion:ADHD comorbid with ODD children show decreased cerebellum volume and excessive functional connectivity with several brain regions of the cerebral hemispheres, which may be one of the neuropathological bases of cognitive, emotional, and behavioral disorders.
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Objective:To investigate the changes of gray matter volume in patients with chronic nonfluent aphasia after cortical cerebral infarction and the relationship between gray matter volume and language function. Methods:From June, 2016 to June, 2019, 19 patients with chronic nonfluent aphasia after cortical cerebral infarction from the First Affiliated Hospital of Ji'nan University and 28 healthy subjects (controls) were scanned with structural magnetic resonance imaging. The data were analyzed using voxel-based morphological measurement to measure the gray matter volumes of the brain regions, and the differences between patients and controls were compared. The correlation between volumes of brain regions with difference and scores of items of Aphasia Battery of Chinese (ABC) was analyzed. Results:The gray matter volumes increased in the brain regions of right inferior frontal gyrus triangle, right inferior frontal gyrus island cover, right angular gyrus, the right medial frontal gyrus, left insula, left medial frontal gyrus in the patients; while decreased in right globus pallidus. The volumes of left insular lobe correlated with the scores of repeating (r = 0.665, P = 0.001) and naming (r = 0.638, P = 0.003); and the volumes of right inferior frontal gyrus triangle correlated with the scores of hearing comprehension (r = 0.493, P = 0.031), repeating (r = 0.576, P = 0.009) and naming (r = 0.674, P = 0.001) in the patients. Conclusion:The cortex volumes of left insula and right inferior frontal gyrus triangle increase in patients with chronic nonfluent aphasia after cerebral infarction, which may play a role in the language dysfunction.
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Objective:To validate the feasibility of establishing a dosimetric model for insect species by investigating the ecological environment of an inland site in the northwestern China.Methods:For Damalacore, a simplified anatomical model based on anatomy and geometry and a model based on CT scan sequence image were established to produce a voxel model. In combination with the Monte Carlo particle transport process, the deposited energy of the radionuclides in the insect tissues/organs was obtained. The dose rate from 90Sr and 137Cs to Damalacore was calculated on the basis of empirical formula. Results:The dose rate from internal exposure to the simplified anatomical model was 8.58×10 -2for 90Sr and 4.25×10 -3μGy/h for 137Cs, whereas the dose rate from external exposure to the simplified anatomy model was 2.81×10 -2for 90Sr and 2.56×10 -1μGy/h for 137Cs, respectively. The internal exposure to the voxel model from 90Sr and 137Cs was 3.91×10 -2and 2.91×10 -3μGy/h, whereas the external exposure to the voxel model from 90Sr and 137Cs was 2.81×10 -2 and 2.56×10 -1μGy/h, respectively. The internal exposure from 90Sr and 137Cs to ERICA model was 1.46×10 -1 and 1.46×10 -2μGy/h, whereas the external exposure to the ERICA model from 90Sr and 137Cs was 5.79×10 -2 and 2.58×10 -1μGy/h, respectively. Conclusions:The calculated results based on the two models are similar to those based on ERICA model and therefore are proved reliable. With improved model accuracy, the calculated result are more close to the practical situation and feasible.
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Objective:To investigate the brain characteristics of chronic schizophrenia by voxel-mirrored homotopic connectivity (VMHC).Methods:Forty seven patients with chronic schizophrenia from Tianjin Anding Hospital and 31 healthy controls from nearby communities were included in the study. The MRI data of the subjects were collected by Siemens Skyra 3.0 T MRI.Positive and negative symptoms scale (PANSS) was used to assess the illness severity of patients with chronic schizophrenia.SPM12 was used to process the collected MRI data. DPARSF was used to calculate the VMHC values of subjects in the two groups. The independent sample t test based on SPM12 was used to compare the VMHC values of the two groups. The significant brain regions in VMHC were regarded as regions of interest (ROI), and VBM8 was used to further analyze the gray matter volume of the ROI of the two groups. Results:Compared with healthy controls, the patients with chronic schizophrenia demonstrated decreased VMHC mainly located in lingual gyrus(voxel=208, T=4.98), occipital middle occipital gyrus(voxel=156, T=3.75) and postcentral gyrus(voxel=237, T=4.36) (FDR correction, q=0.05). Compared with healthy controls, the gray matter volumes in bilateral lingual gyrus(left(0.0034±0.0008), (0.0028±0.0013), t=-2.141, P=0.037; right(0.0025±0.0006), (0.0020±0.0011), t=2.268, P=0.028) and postcentral gyrus((0.0432±0.0051), (0.0372±0.0162), t=-2.070, P=0.045) increased, but non-significant change in postcentral gyrus of the patients with chronic schizophrenia. Conclusion:The abnormal VMHC mainly locate in lingual gyrus, middle occipital gyrus and postcentral gyrus in patients with chronic schizophrenia.
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Objective To investigate the abnormalities of gray matter volume in obsessive-compulsive disorder (OCD) patients relative to controls using the method of voxel-based morphometry (VBM), and to analyze the extent of change relative to clinical symptom. Methods Using VBM to compare the MRI images of 31 adult OCD patients with 31 healthy controls. Correlation analyses were conducted between the structural abnormalities of gray matter volume in each brain area among patients relative to their clinical scores. Results Compared with the healthy controls, the OCD patients showed reductions of gray matter volume in left putamen, insula, premotor area, superior parietal and right angular gyrus (P<0.01, Alphasim corrected). The gray matter volumes of left putamen and insular in the OCD patients showed a negative correlation with the Beck anxiety inventory (BAI) scores. Conclusion The changes in gray matter volumes of left putamen, insula, premotor area, superior parietal lobule and right angular gyrus may be related to the pathogenesis of OCD. The declines of left putamen and insula are related to the abnormal anxiety in the OCD patients.
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Persons with drug refractory TLE have the option of being managed by surgery. They may develop memoryimpairment with specific etiology of mesial temporal sclerosis and anterior temporal lobe resection (ATLR).The study evaluated the semantic verbal memory outcomes in pre- and post-surgery temporal lobe epilepsy(TLE) patients using functional MRI and voxel morphometric methods. Twenty consecutive persons withdrug-resistant epilepsy (DRE) and 20 healthy controls were recruited after obtaining the institute ethicsapproval. The fMRI scans were performed on a 1.5 T MR Scanner using standardized semantic verbal memorytasks using a native Hindi paradigm, before and after an anterior temporal lobectomy (in cases). A task-basedfunctional connectivity (FC) was estimated using a conn toolbox. Data analysis was carried out using thestatistical parametric imaging (SPM12) and CAT12 toolbox. Post-surgery TLE group showed increased robustFC in the right middle and posterior temporal regions as compared to pre-surgery session. A significantreduction in grey matter volume was observed in the left temporal lobe post-operatively as compared to presurgery and healthy control groups. In the post-surgery TLE group, neuropsychological scores were reduced inspecific PGI domains such as visuospatial, working memory, and executive functioning. Our results may helpin understanding of memory reorganization in TLE post-operatively.
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Evidence from previous voxel-based morphometry (VBM) studies indicates that widespread brain regions are involved in Parkinson's disease with mild cognitive impairment (PD-MCI). However, the spatial localization reported for gray matter (GM) abnormalities is heterogeneous. The aim of the present study was to quantitatively integrate studies on GM abnormalities observed in PD-MCI in order to determine whether a pattern exists. Eligible whole-brain VBM studies were identified by a systematic search of articles in PubMed and EMBASE databases spanning from 1995 to January 1, 2019. A meta-analysis was performed to investigate regional GM abnormalities in PD-MCI. The anisotropic effect size version of seed-based d mapping (AES-SDM) meta-analysis was conducted to explore the GMV differences of PD-MCI compared with PD patients with normal cognitive function (PD-NC). A total of 12 studies comprising 243 PD-MCI patients and 326 PD-NC were included in the meta-analysis. PD-MCI patients showed a robust GM decrease in the left insula and left superior temporal gyrus. Moreover, meta-regression analysis demonstrated that age, PD duration and stage, and Unified Parkinson's Disease Rating Scale III and Mini-Mental State Examination scores might be partly correlated with the GM abnormalities observed in PD-MCI patients. The convergent findings of this quantitative meta-analysis revealed a characteristic neuroanatomical pattern in PD-MCI. The findings provide some evidence that MCI in PD may result in the breakdown of the insula and temporal gyrus, which may serve as specific regions of interest for further investigations.
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Humans , Male , Female , Middle Aged , Parkinson Disease/diagnostic imaging , Cognitive Dysfunction/diagnostic imaging , Gray Matter/diagnostic imaging , Parkinson Disease/physiopathology , Magnetic Resonance Imaging , Cognitive Dysfunction/physiopathology , Gray Matter/physiopathology , Gray Matter/pathologyABSTRACT
A systematic characterization of the similarities and differences among different methods for detecting structural brain abnormalities in schizophrenia, such as voxel-based morphometry (VBM), tensor-based morphometry (TBM), and projection-based thickness (PBT), is important for understanding the brain pathology in schizophrenia and for developing effective biomarkers for a diagnosis of schizophrenia. However, such studies are still lacking. Here, we performed VBM, TBM, and PBT analyses on T1-weighted brain MR images acquired from 116 patients with schizophrenia and 116 healthy controls. We found that, although all methods detected wide-spread structural changes, different methods captured different information - only 10.35% of the grey matter changes in cortex were detected by all three methods, and VBM only detected 11.36% of the white matter changes detected by TBM. Further, pattern classification between patients and controls revealed that combining different measures improved the classification accuracy (81.9%), indicating that fusion of different structural measures serves as a better neuroimaging marker for the objective diagnosis of schizophrenia.
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The human striatum is essential for both low- and high-level functions and has been implicated in the pathophysiology of various prevalent disorders, including Parkinson's disease (PD) and schizophrenia (SCZ). It is known to consist of structurally and functionally divergent subdivisions. However, previous parcellations are based on a single neuroimaging modality, leaving the extent of the multi-modal organization of the striatum unknown. Here, we investigated the organization of the striatum across three modalities-resting-state functional connectivity, probabilistic diffusion tractography, and structural covariance-to provide a holistic convergent view of its structure and function. We found convergent clusters in the dorsal, dorsolateral, rostral, ventral, and caudal striatum. Functional characterization revealed the anterior striatum to be mainly associated with cognitive and emotional functions, while the caudal striatum was related to action execution. Interestingly, significant structural atrophy in the rostral and ventral striatum was common to both PD and SCZ, but atrophy in the dorsolateral striatum was specifically attributable to PD. Our study revealed a cross-modal convergent organization of the striatum, representing a fundamental topographical model that can be useful for investigating structural and functional variability in aging and in clinical conditions.
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A systematic characterization of the similarities and differences among different methods for detecting structural brain abnormalities in schizophrenia, such as voxel-based morphometry (VBM), tensor-based morphometry (TBM), and projection-based thickness (PBT), is important for understanding the brain pathology in schizophrenia and for developing effective biomarkers for a diagnosis of schizophrenia. However, such studies are still lacking. Here, we performed VBM, TBM, and PBT analyses on T1-weighted brain MR images acquired from 116 patients with schizophrenia and 116 healthy controls. We found that, although all methods detected wide-spread structural changes, different methods captured different information - only 10.35% of the grey matter changes in cortex were detected by all three methods, and VBM only detected 11.36% of the white matter changes detected by TBM. Further, pattern classification between patients and controls revealed that combining different measures improved the classification accuracy (81.9%), indicating that fusion of different structural measures serves as a better neuroimaging marker for the objective diagnosis of schizophrenia.
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The human striatum is essential for both low- and high-level functions and has been implicated in the pathophysiology of various prevalent disorders, including Parkinson's disease (PD) and schizophrenia (SCZ). It is known to consist of structurally and functionally divergent subdivisions. However, previous parcellations are based on a single neuroimaging modality, leaving the extent of the multi-modal organization of the striatum unknown. Here, we investigated the organization of the striatum across three modalities-resting-state functional connectivity, probabilistic diffusion tractography, and structural covariance-to provide a holistic convergent view of its structure and function. We found convergent clusters in the dorsal, dorsolateral, rostral, ventral, and caudal striatum. Functional characterization revealed the anterior striatum to be mainly associated with cognitive and emotional functions, while the caudal striatum was related to action execution. Interestingly, significant structural atrophy in the rostral and ventral striatum was common to both PD and SCZ, but atrophy in the dorsolateral striatum was specifically attributable to PD. Our study revealed a cross-modal convergent organization of the striatum, representing a fundamental topographical model that can be useful for investigating structural and functional variability in aging and in clinical conditions.
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Objective@#To analyze the physiological basics for changes of cerebral functions in patients with congenital hereditary hearing loss (CHHL), by using voxel-based morphometry (VBM).@*Methods@#From June 2016 to June 2017, we recruited volunteers from Yangzhou Special Education School and CHHL patients from the Department of Otorhinolaryngology, Subei People′s Hospital as a case group with a total of 14 cases (8 males and 6 females), with an average age from 10 to 18 (13.13 ± 0.39). At the same time,patients with no ear diseases were recruited as a control group, a total of 23 cases (10 males and 13 females), with an average age from 10 to18 (13.50 ± 0.49). Brain scanning with resting state functional magnetic resonance imaging was performed on all subjects, and 3D T1WI was collected and processed by the analyzing software. Two sample t-tests were conducted with alphasim correction at the threshold level of P<0.001. Different morphologies of cerebral cortex were identified between patients with CHHL and their normal controls retrospectively.@*Results@#Compared to their normal controls, patients with CHHL had no significant difference in terms of brain volume, gray matter volume, white matter volume, and cerebrospinal fluid volume ((1 397.53±103.98)cm3 vs. (1 439.45±128.84)cm3, (765.19±60.27)cm3 vs. (800.139±77.64)cm3, (392.89±40.38)cm3 vs. (414.54±49.22)cm3, (314.17±25.81)cm3 vs. (296.47±51.42)cm3, all P>0.05). However, compared to their normal controls, patients with CHHL had significantly increased (P<0.001) gray matter in the following cerebral gyri: right temporal pole: middle temporal gyrus, right inferior temporal gyrus, left middle occipital gyrus, right inferior parietal gyrus, and left middle frontal gyrus, left superior occipital gyrus, right superior frontal gyrus, and left superior frontal gyrus. Furthermore, compared to their normal controls, patients with CHHL had significantly decreased (P<0.001) gray matter in the following cerebral gyri: left parahippocampal gyrus, right fusiform gyrus, right middle frontal gyrus, left inferior temporal gyrus, right middle occipital gyrus, left insula, right inferior frontal gyrus, left precentral gyrus, and right superior parietal gyrus.@*Conclusions@#Patients with CHHL show global changes in cerebral cortex not limited to auditory associated cerebral areas. This suggests that adaptable reshaping of global brain structures and functions has occurred in patients with CHHL.
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